''The Queen of the Tropics'' (Spanish: ''La reina del trópico'') is a 1946 Mexican
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Raúl de Anda
Raúl de Anda (1908–1997) was a Mexican actor, screenwriter, film producer and director.Pick p.225 He enjoyed a lengthy and prolific career in the Mexican Cinema that party included its Golden Age.
Selected filmography Actor
* '' Juan Pistolas ...
and starring
María Antonieta Pons
Maria Antonieta Pons (November 6, 1922 – August 20, 2004) was a Cuban-born Mexican film actress and dancer. She was the first actress in the '' Rumberas films'' in the 1940s and 1950s, in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The Rumberas film genr ...
,
Luis Aguilar and
Fernando Soto. It is in the tradition of
Rumberas films
The Rumberas film (in Spanish, Cine de rumberas) was a film genre that flourished in Mexico's Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Its major stars were the so-called ''Cuban rumba, rumberas'', dancers of Afro-Caribbean music, Afro-C ...
. It was shot at the Azteca Studios in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
José Rodríguez Granada
José Rodríguez Granada was a Mexican art directorRiera p.220 who worked on more than two hundred films during his career.
Selected filmography
* ''Judas (1936 film), Judas'' (1936)
* ''Poppy of the Road'' (1937)
* ''Father's Entanglements'' (19 ...
.
Plot
In
Papantla
Papantla () is a city and municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Veracruz, in the Sierra Papanteca range and on the Gulf of Mexico. The city was founded in the 13th century by the Totonacs and has dominated the Totonacapan reg ...
,
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, the orphan girl Maria Antonia (
María Antonieta Pons
Maria Antonieta Pons (November 6, 1922 – August 20, 2004) was a Cuban-born Mexican film actress and dancer. She was the first actress in the '' Rumberas films'' in the 1940s and 1950s, in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The Rumberas film genr ...
) lives with Don Anselmo (
Arturo Soto Rangel
Arturo Soto Rangel (March 12, 1882 – May 25, 1965) was a Mexican film, television, and stage actor. Soto was best known for appearing in over 250 Mexican films. He appeared in one American movie, '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', which w ...
), a peasant producer of vanilla and his wife Trini (Maria Gentil Arcos), who adopted her when she was very young. The lawyer Esteban (
Carlos López Moctezuma
Carlos López Moctezuma Pineda (19 November 1909 – 14 July 1980) was a Mexican film actor. He appeared in more than 210 films between 1938 and 1980. He starred in the film ''Happiness'', which was entered into the 7th Berlin Internationa ...
), son of Don Anselmo, arrives from
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
and at the feast of
Corpus Christi he is dazzled by the beauty of María Antonia. The villain intoxicates the girl in order to possess her. He returns to Mexico City and he promises María Antonia that he will return for her when he has triumphed. With Don Anselmo seriously ill, María Antonia travels to Mexico City to tell Esteban, who does not want to receive her in his luxury apartment. Maria Antonia is alone and at the mercy of the dangers of the city, until she meets the young Andres (
Luis Aguilar) and his friend Pizarrín (
Fernando Soto "Mantequilla"), who give her asylum in their neighborhood.
Cast
*
María Antonieta Pons
Maria Antonieta Pons (November 6, 1922 – August 20, 2004) was a Cuban-born Mexican film actress and dancer. She was the first actress in the '' Rumberas films'' in the 1940s and 1950s, in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The Rumberas film genr ...
as María Antonia
*
Luis Aguilar as Andrés
*
Carlos López Moctezuma
Carlos López Moctezuma Pineda (19 November 1909 – 14 July 1980) was a Mexican film actor. He appeared in more than 210 films between 1938 and 1980. He starred in the film ''Happiness'', which was entered into the 7th Berlin Internationa ...
as Esteban
*
Fernando Soto "Mantequilla" as Pizarrín
*
Arturo Soto Rangel
Arturo Soto Rangel (March 12, 1882 – May 25, 1965) was a Mexican film, television, and stage actor. Soto was best known for appearing in over 250 Mexican films. He appeared in one American movie, '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', which w ...
as Don Anselmo
*
María Gentil Arcos
María Gentil Arcos (11 April 1905 – 18 July 1965) was a Spanish-Mexican actress of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema as a character actress in supporting roles.
She was the sister of Conchita Gentil Arcos, also an actress in the Golden Age ...
as Doña Trini
*
Emma Roldán
Emma Roldán (February 3, 1893 – August 29, 1978) was a Mexican character actress and costume designer. She is remembered as the sharp-tongued, domineering matron of Mexican cinema, and was nominated three times for a Silver Ariel Award.
...
as Doña Gumersinda
*
Salvador Quiroz
Salvador Quiroz (1892–1956) was a Mexican film actor.Kohner, p. 355
Selected filmography
* ''Huapango (film), Huapango'' (1938)
* ''Horse for Horse'' (1939)
* ''With Villa's Veterans'' (1939)
* ''To the Sound of the Marimba'' (1941)
* ''The 9 ...
as Don Pedro
*
Luis G. Barreiro as El gerente
*
Enrique Pastor as Músico
*
Charles Rooner
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
as Mr. Jackson
*
Ramón G. Larrea Ramón or Ramon may refer to:
People Given name
*Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer
* Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer
* Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer
*Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...
as El editor
*
Raquel Téllez Girón as La amiga
*
Roberto Corell
Roberto Corell was a Mexican film actor.Agrasánchez p.158 He appeared in more than eighty films during his career.
Selected filmography
* '' Narciso's Hard Luck'' (1940)
* '' The Unknown Policeman'' (1941)
* ''Les Misérables'' (1943)
* '' Buga ...
as Juan
*
Jorge Arriaga
Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese .
It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'' ...
as El tarzán
*
Max Langler
Max Langler was a Mexican film actorAgrasánchez p.158 who appeared in more than eighty productions during his career.
Selected filmography
* ''Judas'' (1936)
* '' The Sign of Death'' (1939)
* '' With Villa's Veterans'' (1939)
* '' In the Times o ...
as El ladrón
*
Hernán Vera
Hernán Rogelio Vera Pavía (28 October 1892 – 29 January 1964) was a Mexican actor known for usually playing short, small roles, usually as a bartender, during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
He began his career in theater, with some works ...
as El hotelero
*
Kiko Mendive Kiko or KIKO may refer to:
People
*Kiko (given name), includes a list of people with the name
Other uses
*''Kikō'', the Japanese form of the Chinese term ''qigong''
*''KIKO'', a 2015 compilation album by Panda Eyes
* ''Kiko'' (album), by Los Lobo ...
as Músico miembro de la orquesta
Reviews
When one says that Maria Antonieta Pons is the ''Queen of the Tropics'', it is true, because it is the name of a movie that she starred surrounded by great actors. To justify her Cuban accent, in the film was assigned to her a role of an orphan whose origin was unknown and was adopted by a peasant couple; the plot happening in Papantla, Veracruz. Even when she tried to be demure, she don't kept to hearing the call of the music, and to the minimum provocation, she moves with the rhythm of the music in the company of another Cuban dancer highlighted in the Mexican cinema: Kiko Mendive, who prepared several choreographies executed by this rumbera star.
References
Bibliography
* Gunckel, Colin, Horak, Jan-Christopher & Jarvinen, Lisa. ''Cinema Between Latin America and Los Angeles: Origins to 1960''. Rutgers University Press, 2019.
External links
*
''Películas Pepito: La reina del trópico (1946)''
1946 films
Mexican black-and-white films
Rumberas films
1940s Spanish-language films
Mexican drama films
1946 drama films
1940s Mexican films
Films directed by Raúl de Anda
Films set in Veracruz
{{1940s-Mexico-film-stub